Evercore, the boutique investment bank, has gone under offer for a major headquarters move to one of London's landmark new developments, CoStar News understands, as the capital's office leasing and investment markets pick up strongly.
The bank launched a search via Colliers over a year ago that would see it leave its Mayfair base of more than a decade. It is based across multiple buildings on Stanhope Gate, near Hyde Park.
CoStar News revealed last month that it had entered talks to move to 105 Victoria Street, a pioneering redevelopment of the former House of Fraser building in London's Victoria.
Market sources this week said the bank had gone under offer to take around 120,000 square feet as the first occupier, with rents of around £130 per square foot expected at the building.
Welput, the specialist central London office fund managed by BentallGreenOak, recapitalised its ownership of the former House of Fraser and offices at 105 Victoria Street in London and secured a £400 million development finance facility to fund the construction of its proposed redevelopment in 2022. The scheme is one of the largest speculative West End office projects and was Westminster City Council’s single largest commercial building consent in 2021.
The project’s funding coincided with BentallGreenOak’s appointment of Skanska as the main contractor.
The development, to which Welput is attaching a gross development value of £1 billion, reworks the department store and offices on the south side of Victoria Street, and has frontages to Artillery Row, Howick Place and Wilcox Place. Welput bought the building in 2005 for £103 million.
The development will be managed by BGO. Welput has said the 500,000-square-foot building will "not only be operational net zero, but achieve net zero embodied carbon using innovations in ultra-low carbon construction to minimise the carbon intensity of the development such that the carbon emitted will be offset within six years of the new building’s operations in comparison to the retention and refurbishment of the existing building".
According to Welput the building will be the largest all-electric office in the UK. It is the UK’s first office building to target a combined BREEAM Outstanding and 5.5* NABERS rating, the environmental performance rating tool which rates the operational energy use of offices.
Designed by architect Kohn Pederson Fox, alongside interior architect Henning Larsen, 105 Victoria Street proposes up to 450,000 square feet of workspace, including 5,500 square feet dedicated to incubator and affordable space, and over 30,000 square feet of retail.
CBRE and JLL are commercial leasing agents. Colliers advises Evercore. All parties declined to comment.
News of progress on the letting will be another boost for the capital as leasing experts suggest around 2 million square feet of office moves are close to being signed up.
Major moves moving closer to decisions include US insurance broker Gallagher, global professional services firm Accenture, accountant BDO, payment card services group Visa, Legal & General and law firm Mayer Brown.
This week CoStar News revealed that US hedge fund Citadel is in talks to prelet more than 250,000 square feet at British Land and GIC's 2 Fenchurch Avenue, while Barings is close to signing law firm Watson Farley & Williams for all 79,000 square feet at 25 Moorgate.
Cushman & Wakefield estimates around £2 billion of central London office investments are under offer as the transactional market picks up too.
News that Blackstone is in talks to buy a retail and office block on New Bond Street from Oxford Properties and Richemont for around £230 million is lifting confidence.
Colliers reports that private equity has accounted for 11% of acquisitions in the London capital market year to date, and account for a quarter of deals that are currently under offer. The figures show that private equity has increased its market share year on year, accounting for four per cent of purchases for full year 2022 and 6% for the entirety of 2023.